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Some of the World's Best Leaders Are in the Tech Sector

Wayne Duggan

For some investors, owning shares of a stock is about something more than financial gain. These investors want to feel that they are a small part of a company that serves as a force of good in the world.

Fortune just released its annual list of the World's 50 Greatest Leaders, and the list highlights just how much of a positive impact several well-known tech leaders are making.

In considering its list, Fortune looks at how these leaders provide hope and optimism, encourage personal connections and facilitate the free exchange of ideas that can contribute to personal growth.

[See: 7 of the Best Socially Responsible Funds.]

This year's list is full of political, religious and military leaders, but a surprising number of the business leaders on the list are from the tech sector.

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The highest-ranking tech leader is Alibaba Group Holding (ticker: BABA) chairman Jack Ma, who came in at No. 2 on the list.

Ma's leadership goes far beyond calling the shots at Alibaba. Ma has made the most of his visibility since Alibaba's initial public offering by championing causes that transcend share price and merchandise volume. Ma graciously met with President Donald Trump after the U.S. election to help promote job creation in both the U.S. and China. Ma is also a generous philanthropist and an advocate for free trade and the expansion of digital capitalism.

At No. 4 on the list, the highest-ranking female representative from the tech industry is Melinda Gates, founder and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Gates and her husband Bill used their incredible financial success at Microsoft Corp. ( MSFT) as a springboard to launch their foundation, which supports education and health initiatives around the world. Earlier this year, Gates penned an essay in which she reiterated the foundation's goal of providing birth control to 120 million women around the world by 2020.

Other tech industry representatives on the Fortune leaders list include Amazon.com ( AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos (No. 5), Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky (18), Tesla ( TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk (30), salesforce.com ( CRM) CEO Marc Benioff (43) and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD) CEO Lisa Su (50).

[See: 6 Things to Know About Mark Zuckerberg's Manifesto.]

As the Internet Age matures, tech stocks have a real opportunity to continue to provide some of the best returns in the stock market for investors. At the same time, tech investors can feel good about the positive impact the new generation of tech leaders is making on the world.



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